http://www.promedmail.org/
and click open
27 Mar 2012 Antibiotic use in animals - USA: court ruling
from the menu on your left

Just a few small quotes (and note that this misuse has facilitated
abusive factory farm conditions instead of the better conditions
traditionally found on family farms):

The court noted that today there is finally enough evidence to prove
that the dangers predicted by the FDA in 1977 have been realized, and
that standing on the sidelines and waiting to see whether the meat
industry can police itself on the use of antibiotics is no longer an
option. ... > conclusion drawn after the agency realized that food
animals that have received antibiotics like penicillin end up acting as
a "reservoir of antibiotic resistant pathogens and non-pathogens." The
agency knew, and stated, in 1977 that this situation could lead to
antibiotic resistance ... > the use of antibiotics in meat production
is leading to "superbugs" ... > By feeding low levels of antibiotics to
herd animals over a long period, they can keep those animals in more
cramped, unsanitary conditions without the animals contracting disease.


End small quoted sections, and, please, do read the full article to
learn more.

This topic has come up in the past. Please, see the FHL and FML
Archives. Many of the pathogens can be avoided by careful cleaning of
hands, utensils, cutting surfaces, etc. and cooking. The CDC site is an
excellent place to confirm what internal temperatures can kill which
pathogens. Do remember that some, like certain strains of E. coli, can
produce toxins and not all of those toxins are broken down well enough
with heat which is why meat that might contain ones like shiga toxin
should preferably be discarded.

This topic in involved in both disease exposure discussions and
discussions about when ferrets get infections that are resistant to
treatment.

Another route to antibiotic resistant bacteria is when we engage in
improper use of antibiotics. Antibiotics should not be taken when the
disease that is present will not respond to antibiotics (like a human
taking them during a cold unless the individual has a strong
vulnerability to secondary bacterial infections). Antibiotics should
never be started or stopped by people who do not have medical training
without permission of medical experts such as the treating veterinarian
or treating physician. If an incomplete course of antibiotics is taken
then the surviving bacteria which are stronger will return in force
and the situation will be worse. Yes, we humans have created a form of
unnatural natural selection for bacteria, and things go best for us
mammals rather than the bacteria when we instead manage to kill them
off instead of being cavalier about antibiotic use. There is also an
epigenetic effect found in some bacterial survivors, though it is
achieved through a different mechanism than methylation. I recently
read about new work on that but forget where, so if I find it later
I will send it as a follow-up.

Another route to disease is eating food too long after the expiration
dates. Preservatives, both natural ones like Vitamin E and others, work
by being preferentially oxidized, but once they have all been oxidized
it is the food which is then oxidized (rotted).

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html

"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)

[Posted in FML 7378]